oyd Robert Holloway passed away peacefully on May 22, 2018, at Fairhaven Senior Services, in Whitewater, Wisconsin, one day after his 96th birthday. He was born May 21, 1922 on the Holloway family farm in the Town of Paris, WI to John W. and Alma E. Holloway, the 2nd of four children. Floyd attended Hawthorne School in Paris, The Racine County (High) School of Agriculture and Domestic Economy in Rochester Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
His college education was interrupted… Read More » by the outbreak of WWII. Floyd enlisted in the Navy in 1943 and was assigned to the officer training program which had him enrolled at Purdue University as well as Columbia University in New York for training in engineering. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant (jg).
He served on troop and transport ships and served in both the European and Pacific Fleets, landing troops and tanks from Normandy to Okinawa. He returned safely to San Francisco on December 30 1945 as the executive officer of his ship, one of the youngest men to command a U.S. Naval ship in WWII. He was released from active duty in June of 1946.
Floyd returned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to complete his education and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture. He was offered a position as an associate professor upon graduation but declined and returned to the family farm. Floyd farmed with his father, then alone and finally with his son John until 1995.
He married Jane Davies, of Wild Rose WI, on Oct 4, 1947, at the Wild Rose Presbyterian Church, in Wild Rose, WI. Together they built a home on the home farm where they raised four children, celebrating 65 years of marriage prior to Jane’s passing in 2013. Floyd was an innovator in agriculture, working closely with the University and UW Extension, conducting field trials on his farm.
In the 1953, he was the first farmer in Kenosha County to have a documented corn yield in excess of 100 bushels to the acre. Floyd was a very active and effective community leader. Along with a dedicated group, he was instrumental in the formation of the Westosha Central High School district and oversaw the construction of the school in Paddock Lake.
He served on the board of education for 27 years. He served on the Town of Paris Zoning Board of Appeals as well as serving as a Town representative to various committees over the years, including the committee that created the current town memorial. He served on the board of directors for the Farmers Grain and Supply Cooperative in Union Grove for many years.
A long-time member of the Kenosha County Farm Bureau, he served as president for 8 years. Recognizing the value of being a strong voice for agriculture, he created a speaker’s bureau and was an effective and sought-after speaker. In 1979, he was appointed to the Wisconsin State Board of Agriculture by Governor Lee Dreyfus and served for six years on that board.
He was the chair of the building committee that designed and over saw the building of the church for what is now the Somers Community Church in Somers. In 1986, he was presented with the Honorary Recognition Award by the University of Wisconsin Madison, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences recognizing his lifetime of service to agriculture and rural living. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Jane, sister Carol Wolf and brothers Earl and Lowell Holloway.
He is survived by two daughters, Sharron Topping (Charlie Allen) and Elizabeth Schar (Mark), two sons, John (Leslie) and Richard (Barbara), nine grandchildren and one great grandchild. The family would like to extend a special thanks to the staff at Fairhaven Senior Services as well as Hearthstone Memory Care for their skilled and devoted care for Floyd. Visitation with the family will be at Polnasek- Daniels Funeral Home, 908 11th Ave.
Union Grove on Thursday, June 14 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. A memorial service will be held at the Somers Community Church 9918 12th Ave, Somers on Friday, June 15th at 11:00. There will be visitation at the church from 10:00 to 11:00 prior to services. Graveside service at the Bristol/Paris Cemetery will be private.
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